Several fun and free activities are scheduled to entertain and delight those attending the 52nd Nescatunga Arts Festival on the Northwestern Oklahoma State University campus in Alva, Oklahoma, June 2-4 besides the traditional fine arts and crafter booths set up for the event.
On Friday of the festival while live entertainment is being performed on the lawn just south of Percefull Fieldhouse, weather permitting, there will be free lawn games including corn hole boards, oversized checkers, ball toss, oversized Jenga, oversized Connect 4, checker tables, and oversized tic tac toe. Okie Axe Slingers also will be on the lawn Friday with free axe throwing from 8-10 p.m.
On Saturday, the festival will have a free bounce house and an inflatable obstacle course, both with pools via Nam & Pops, on the lawn south of Percefull from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Bradt’s Menagerie will have a portable petting zoo on the lawn from 10 a.m. to noon. Free train rides with Bill Springer of the Helena Lion’s Club also will be given from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the sidewalk north of Percefull.
On Saturday from 1-4 p.m. in the Health and Sports Science Education small gym, Melissa Robell with the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge will be bringing “cool animal items” from the refuge for people to touch such as feathers and a white-tailed deer skull to talk about wildlife and the refuge. She also is bringing a button machine so anyone can color, decorate and wear the button they create.
All three days there will be five fun face cutouts depicting famous paintings and fun art-related themes available to take pictures with thanks to the two Higher Education Prevention Services grants that Northwestern has received, which are funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention Services and coordinated by Taylor Wilson, director of Counseling and Career Services at Northwestern. These grants provide the community, NWOSU students and employees with access to prevention services for the misuse of stimulants and opioids.
Wilson’s office will be coordinating the face cutouts, as well as giving away informational coloring books, sheets and crayons to children and adults while providing information and resources on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, treatment services and naloxone. To prevent the medication from getting into the wrong hands, lock boxes and Deterra Drug Deactivation Pouches will be available to encourage safe storage and safe disposal of unwanted or expired medication.
Emma Cline with CAKE FACE face painting will be offering face painting designs exclusive to the festival for a charge all three days. She will have glow paint available Friday evening, unable to attend Saturday evening, but will be back on Sunday.
Food Trucks, Concession Area
Those attending the festival as well as taking part in it will have an opportunity to peruse several food truck vendors just south of Percefull Fieldhouse during the three-day event. On the schedule currently are A Fuego Pizzeria, Frosty Joe’s Sno Cones, Joe’s Rammer Jammer Concession Trailer, Rickie’s Sweets & Eats, Star Fire Grill and The Coffee Box. The Coffee Box won’t be available Saturday evening.
A concession area also will be set up in Percefull Fieldhouse on Saturday serving chicken nuggets, corndogs, Frito chili pie, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, nachos, pretzels, popcorn, candy, chips and drinks.
Sugar Show Saturday
Nine contestants will compete in the second Sugar Show on June 3 in the Health and Sports Science Education commons area. The public will be welcome to visit the area after judging commences at approximately 10:30 a.m. Awards, including a People’s Choice winner, will be announced at approximately 11:30 a.m. Three hands-on workshops also are planned for 1, 2 and 3 p.m. in the Science Amphitheatre north of Percefull Fieldhouse. One of the workshops will be decorating cookies for children with the other two being cookie and cake decorating for the more aspiring adult. Each workshop is $10 and is first come/first paid. Those wishing to attend the workshops should contact April Ridgway at (580) 917-0101 or maxandapril@hotmail.com. The two cookie workshops are open to 15 participants with the cake decorating workshop open to 10.
Poppin’ Around Alva Shopping Event
Patrons of the arts festival will have the opportunity to “shop local” while also shopping for unique items at the festival. More than 20 Alva businesses have provided gift certificates and other items to be given away in prize packages on Sunday at 2 p.m. Shoppers will take a “punch card” with the participating businesses’ names on them, make three purchases and return the cards to the festival by 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 3, to be entered in the drawing. Must be present at Sunday’s drawing to win. The punch cards will be available at the festival and from each participating business. A list of the participating businesses may be found at www.nescatunga.org/poppin.
Elementary Student Coloring Pages
Students at Alva’s Washington and Longfellow Elementary Schools were able to participate in a Nescatunga Arts Festival activity by completing coloring pages with a Nescatunga design on them. Local businesses displaying the students’ artwork include Alva Public Library, Alva State Bank, City of Alva, Holder Drug, Gambino’s Pizza, Love’s, McDonald’s, Moore’s Venture Foods, Rialto and the J.W. Holder Wellness Center.
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